1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with the field of telecommunications and, more particularly, with reducing the time required for transactions between a communication device and a destination.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various communication devices exist for communication with certain offices and apparatus over communication lines. For example, lottery devices provide communication with centralized computers, and credit card transaction terminals typically provide a mechanism for retailers to obtain approval, i.e., validation, before processing a transaction exceeding a specified dollar amount. In order to make the validation process more convenient, the credit card transaction terminal establishes communication with a specified validation computer over telephone lines.
For example, when a transaction requires approval, a salesclerk enters the dollar amount of the transaction into the terminal and then swipes the card through the terminal which reads pertinent card information encoded on the magnetic strip. This information includes the type of card and the card number. The clerk then activates the "enter" button on the terminal whereupon the terminal dials a toll-free "800" number associated with the destination of the designated validation computer. The local exchange carrier (LEC) accesses a database to translate the NPA-NXX portion of the dialed number to determine which interexchange carrier (IC) has been engaged to handle the transaction. This process takes between 1.5 and 3.0 seconds.
Upon identifying the proper IC, the LEC asks the IC for a an open trunk line to the point-of-presence switch of the IC and, upon connecting with the open trunk line, outpulses data to the switch. This data includes automatic number identification (ANI) of the calling number and also includes the called number. This portion of the process takes an additional 3.9 to 5.1 seconds.
Upon receiving the outpulse data from the LEC, the IC switch must then translate the dialed 800 number into a normal ten digit destination. This is achieved by accessing the remote database which requires about 1.0 second. Upon receipt of the translated number, the IC switch then routes the call to the destination whereupon the validation computer is placed in communication with the card terminal. As can be appreciated, the setup process can take anywhere from 6.4 to 9.1 seconds after the enter button is activated on the terminal. On top of this, additional time is required for the validation process which must be completed before the terminal can indicate whether the transaction is approved.
A similar process may occur in other applications and transactions, such as operator assisted telephone calls such as from pay phones. In pay phones these calls are often serviced by regional operating centers. Therefore when a customer dials a destination number requesting operator assistance, the pay phone may outpulse a number associated with the regional operating center (ROC) associated with that pay phone, often this is an 800 number associated with that ROC. The LEC similarly accesses a database to determine which interexchange carrier has been engaged to handle the call transaction. The LEC then asks the IC for an open trunk and outpulses data to the switch. Upon receiving the data if it is an 800 number the IC switch must translate the dialed 800 number into the normal 10 digit destination of the ROC. The pay-phone call is then routed to the ROC and after a connection is established the ROC will send a signal to the pay-phone and the pay-phone then transmits the desired destination digits. As one can appreciate the set-up time for certain pay-phone transactions can be significant.
In certain transactions the time required for set up of communications may be extremely important. For example, in transactions involving consumers the transaction time can be an irritation to the customer involved and to other customers waiting in line. In addition, in a high volume setting the cumulative effect over many calls can have an adverse impact on the overall efficiency and volume. Further, for a phone company delays in set-up time may impose additional expenses with respect to network costs which may not be recovered from the customer and leads to increased transaction expense. Therefore, one can appreciate that it would be desirable to minimize call set-up time between communication devices and destinations.
In other transactions telecommunication lines are dedicated for a single or dedicated purpose. For example, in some security systems, communication terminals are established on the premises for dialing a number associated with the security agency or other location to be notified. These are typically separate communication lines whose costs are often absorbed by the security agency and are billed to the consumer as part of the security agency's service fee. These separate lines may be expensive and in addition, the security agency may not be able to easily control the destination of the call if these are operated by preset dialing modems at the customer's location. Changing the destination of the call may be desirable if the agency changes offices or locations or desires to consolidate certain destinations. Numerous other applications such as security card access systems, remote utility monitoring could benefit from alternate methods of transactions between a communication device and a remote location.
In some applications IC carriers have established direct access lines (DAL) with customers. These DAL's have authorization codes associated with each line. When a line is unhooked, the switch accesses data stored in tables in local memory associated with such authorization codes for such line. The data contains information on whether this call is to be immediately connected to a destination and the destination to which the line is to be immediately connected. If the data indicates the call is to be immediately connected, the switch establishes communication between the line and the destination provided for in the previously stored data. While this method provides for fast connections, unfortunately it requires a dedicated access line between the subscriber and the IC, which is not economically feasible for many applications and provides no improvement for the many communication lines which are routed through local operating companies.
There have been some limited applications in the past of the use of automatic dialers. Long distance companies installed these dialers on the local line at the customer premise. When the customer dialed a long distance number, these dialers would come off-hook on the local line and dial the long distance phone company access number, such as 472-1930 when using feature group A access or 950-1033 when using feature group B access. The dialer would then wait until a 400 Hz dial tone signal was received and then the dialer would dial a seven or nine digit authorization code and the dialed number. The long distance company then used the dialed authorization code for both authorization and billing purposes. These dialers therefore provided customers with easy access to the long distance networks before equal access was provided. As equal access evolved through feature group D, this feature then allowed direct call delivery without dialing a special access number, in addition to allowing for previous access methods such as allowing the use of an access number. Feature group D also provided long distance companies with automatic number identification (ANI) which provided a preferred means of billing customers versus authorization codes.